A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty to federal charges in the United States after leading a crew that stole $339 million in bitcoin from a Washington resident. Malone Lam faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years following his guilty plea to a federal racketeering conspiracy charge, according to prosecutors.

Lam and his co-conspirators used social engineering to dupe the victim out of more than 4,100 bitcoin in August 2024, posing as representatives of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Prosecutors said the group used the laundered proceeds during a month-long spending spree that included luxury sports cars, mansions in Miami and a $US2 million watch before Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Lam, Michael Kunzelman reports for The Age (business).